Gabon: sanctioned media, including France 2 for a documentary on Bongo

In Gabon, the regulator of communication has sanctioned several media.

The weekly Echos du Nord was banned from appearing for a month for failing to comply with a convocation of the regulator.

For its part, Satcon, a cable television broadcasting company, was banned for 3 months for hacking the BEIN channels.

The heaviest penalty was imposed against France 2. The French channel is punished for having rebroadcast a very critical documentary against the Bongo clan.

The High Authority for Communication, HAC, questioned the advisability of rebroadcasting this documentary, which it describes as “subversive” on the eve of the commemoration of Gabon’s national holiday.

The regulator of communication in Gabon says that this documentary undermines the institutions and the dignity of others. “The documentary is likely to disturb public order,” says the HAC.

“France 2 committed by these facts a reprehensible act,” concludes the HAC, which decided to withdraw this chain of all the bouquets in Gabon during one year.

The first broadcast of the documentary ‘The Bongo Clan’, a French story in July 2017, shocked Gabonese people. They were surprised to see their president direct an orchestra in London or to learn that the Bongo family received 18% of Total Gabon’s oil revenues.

The presidential palace, upset, had claimed to have been cheated by the team that made this documentary against him.